| Abstract |
During the last two decades widening adult participation in higher education has become a central issue in international and especially European lifelong learning policy debates. At European level this is reflected in the Europe 2020 strategy set out by the European Commission. One headline target is to boost the share of the population aged 30–34 that has completed tertiary or equivalent education to 40 per cent by 2020. In the face of general trends such as the intensive use of ICT, the evolution of knowledge-based economies, changes in labour markets and employment structures, demographic ageing and increased migration dynamics, the need to provide adults (also) with high level possibilities to acquire knowledge and qualification, to update and to enhance their skills throughout their lives has become obvious. Opening higher education to adult learners or so-called ‘non-traditional’ students is seen as crucial in this context.
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